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Simone Biles once again put her name in the history books, earning her third consecutive national title, with a two-day combined score of 124.1 and a out of this world 63 all-around score on the second day. The race for second and third was tight and changed throughout the night, but Maggie Nichols who shone from start to finish, managed to claim the silver with a 119.15. Aly Raisman grabbed the bronze with a 118.55. Key followed closely for fourth with a 118.35 and Douglas rounded out the top group with a 117.95.

Biles began the nights with a 61.1 all-around, a 1.4 lead over Nichols. Douglas, Raisman and Key all followed closely at just over a point to 1.2 behind. There was a full house at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the crowd was electric. The one at a time format made sure each gymnast got their due.

Rotation One began with Nichols on bars. She started her evening out with a bang, showing off her light, flowing bar routine with a stick to boot for a 14.8. Ross was up next on vault, delivering a double twisting yurchenko, but landed with her chest quite low for a 14.55. Douglas followed suit on bars, delivering a strong routine on her best event with just a small hop on landing. Biles started the night out on beam. This event has been a trial for her this week, but she overcame her earlier jitters with one of her best beam routines ever, including a stick on her dismount scoring an out of this world 15.9.

Raisman also got started on her best event, rocking the entire arena with her sky high tumbling, and hitting two solid floor routines in a row (minus a blip on her split half to end) for a 15.5. Key finished up the top group on beam as well. Redeeming her fall yesterday, she hit a great routine for a 14.55. At the end of the rotation Raisman had moved up a spot to third, overtaking Olympic teammate Douglas.

Rotation two kicks off with four big hitters in a row. Starting with Raisman on vault. She threw her amanar and landed with a locked knee but seemed to be ok, scoring a 15.35. After a great warm-up, Kyla fell on her dismount once again on bars, earning a 14.05. Douglas had a good beam routine with a few wobbles to earn a 14.2. Biles completely redeemed herself on floor, sticking her last pass for good measure for a whopping15.85.

Ashton Locklear nailed her bar routine, scoring a 15.45. Key took the floor with her tuxedo ringmaster leo to perform an enchanting routine that earned a 14.7. Nichols was last up on beam, where she competed a solid beam routine earning a 14.65. At the end of rotation, Raisman had gone into second, overtaking Nichols by .35.

Key led off rotation three on vault with a double twisting yurchenko. She has a fairly large hop on the landing but is beautiful in the air for a 15.2. Skinner hits her packed floor routing two nights in a row, earning a 14.8. Next up are Gowey and Kocian on bars, both trying to show their contributions to the team as bars specialists. Gowey scored a 14.7 and Kocian scored a 15.6 for her gorgeous bar routine. Nichols danced her way through her high tumbling floor routine for a 14.15. Biles followed her on vault, rocking her amanar for a sky high e-score of 9.9 and a 16.3.

Raisman was up on bars, where she did one of her cleaner bar routines for a 14.1. Ross looked to redeem herself on beam, showing a solid routine with a stuck dismount scoring a 15.25. Douglas finished out the rotation rocking her floor routine and improved by almost point from night one for a 14.8. At the end of the rotation Biles was in the lead followed by Raisman, Nichols, Key and then Douglas, all separated by eight tenths.

The last rotation was a battle for the podium, led out by Nichols on vault. Nichols hit a great amanar for a 15.85. Douglas vaulted a clean double twisting yurchenko with a small hop for a 15.15. Biles finished out one of her most dominant nights of competition on bars, where she earned a 14.95, totaling a 63 all-around for the night. Raisman followed on beam, needing the beam routine of her life to hold on to second. She was solid, scoring a 14.95, but it was not enough to hold on to second. Ross hit her tumbling passes on her floor routine, but missed a lot of her leaps and looked tired at the end, earning a 13.8. Key ended on bars, with a beautiful routine, just one overbalanced handstand to score a 15.3, pulling up into fourth. Alyssa Baumann finished out an incredible night of competition with her beautiful beam routine for a 15.05.

Biles won her second national championship on vault, with Skinner for the silver. Kocian took the bars title followed by Locklear, then Key. Biles won another title on beam, with Baumann taking the silver and Ross the Bronze. Raisman won another floor national title followed by Biles for silver with Key and Skinner tying for bronze.

At the end of the night, Aimee Bowman was named coach of the year, Biles was named athlete of the year and Raisman was named sportsman of the year. The national team named on this night were the top six in the all-around Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, Bailie Key, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian. Also added to the team were Nia Dennis, MyKayla Skinner, Alyssa Baumann and Kyla Ross.

Gabby Douglas at the 2015 Secret U.S. Classic. Photo by Christy Linder

The 2015 P&G Gymnastics Championships bring an incredible amount of excitement, as the depth of the women’s field continues to grow. Among the women currently competing are eight world championship medalists and three Olympic medalists. Between them, they have won 21 World and Olympic medals, the World team titles in 2011 and 2014 and the team gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2012. This year also brings the current World Champion head to head with the current Olympic Champion at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Aug. 13-16.

Simone Biles of World Champions Centre, the reigning two time World all-around champion, will seek to defend her National title and tie Kim Zmeskal for three consecutive National all-around titles. Looking to make their own mark will be returning Olympic all-around champion Gabrielle Douglas of Buckeye and Olympic medalist Aly Raisman of Brestyan’s American Gymnastics, competing in their first National Championships since the Olympics. Biles and Douglas went one-two in the recent Secret U.S. Classic competition.

Fellow Olympic medalist Kyla Ross of Gym-Max will be competing, along with junior standout Bailie Key of Texas Dreams, who will be making her senior National Championship debut. Maggie Nichols of Twin City Twisters will also take the stage, as she seeks to make the podium at nationals after finishing third at the recent Secret U.S. Classic.

In addition to Biles and Ross, the remaining 2014 World Champion team gold medalists will all be competing: Alyssa Baumann and Madison Kocian of WOGA, Ashton Locklear of Everest Gymnastics and MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights. Joining them will be the five members of the women’s team that recently won the team gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Ont., Canada: Madison Desch of GAGE, Rachel Gowey of Chow’s Gymnastics, Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati Gymnastics, Emily Schild Everest Gymnastics and Megan Skaggs of Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta.

These athletes will be vying for spots on the National Team as well as invitations to the 2015 World Championship selection camp. With only one year left to the Olympics, every competition is significant in building each gymnasts resume as they make their bid for a spot on the 2016 Olympic team.

In addition to the incredibly exciting senior competition, will be an equally intense junior competition. Many of this year’s juniors will be eligible for Rio next year, and they will be looking to carve out their own spots on this year’s National Team. The junior women’s field includes reigning U.S junior champion Jazmyn Foberg of MG Elite and her teammate Lauren Hernandez who has taken gold in both junior competitions she has competed in this year, including the Secret U.S. Classic.

The junior women will take the floor for the first day of competition on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. followed by the seniors at 7 p.m. They will compete again on Saturday, Aug. 15, adding the two day total to determine the national titles. The juniors will again be at 1 p.m. and the seniors at 7:30 p.m. The full roster is listed below.

The energy in the Sears Centre Arena was electric for the 2015 Secret U.S. Classic. Simone Biles of World Champions wowed the crowd the whole night through to win the gold with a 62.4. Gabby Douglas of Buckeye Gymnastics came out strong in her first US meet since 2012 for silver, earning a 60.50. Nichols showed she was out to make a name for herself with her new amanar, and gorgeous, consistent routines on every event for a 60.0.

Bailie Key of Texas Dreams came out strong in her US senior debut, just missing the bronze with a 59.45. Raisman had a great night, competing her amanar for the first time, but fell on a newly upgraded floor pass, ending the night with a 59.05. Kyla Ross of Gym Max only competed on two events due to a hurt heel.

Rotation One

Nichols performed her new amanar vault with just a slight step on landing. Douglas looked great on bars, the arena exploded before and after her routine with just a hush while she competed. She flew high on all her release moves for a 15.4. Key competed beam like the veteran she is in her first US senior meet, scoring a 14.45. Raisman pulled out a surprise amanar in warm ups and competed it beautifully, but with a step to the side that went out of bounds for a 15.4. The crowd went even wilder for Biles on beam, where she was solid on her new barani and front pike, and just had one major wobble for a 15.25.

Brenna Dowell fell on a release after hitting her routines in podium training and warm ups in her first meet back as an elite. Alyssa Baumann fell on beam, but hit the rest of the routine with her normal gorgeous lines. Ashton Locklear is still getting back into routine condition, and though she performed on beam, she was not scored.

At the end of rotation one Nichols was on top with a 15.8 follow by Raisman and Douglas with a 15.4. Biles

Rotation Two

Nichols started off the rotation with a gorgeous bar routine for a 14.95. Key opened up with a gorgeous double layout, and continued on with her fantastic new routine to score a 14.8. Douglas hit an awesome, perfectly solid beam routine for a 14.9. Raisman showed her ever improving bar routine, where she scored a 14.2. MyKayla Skinner debuted her new floor routine, but put her hands down on her last pass after looking very winded.

Ross missed her hand in her new bhardwaj release and had to stop. Then she fell again. She got back up with determination to compete the rest of her routine while the crowd cheered her on, and she looked great.

Biles led at the halfway point with a 31.3, followed by Nichols with a 30.75 and Douglas with a 30.3.

Rotation Three

Key opened up the rotation on vault, showing a clean Yurchenko double for a 14.9. Biles rocked her amanar vault with just the tiniest of hops for an incredible 9.7 execution score and a 16.0. Raisman followed her on beam. After an almost perfect routine in warmups, she had a few wobbles but stuck her incredibly difficult Patterson dismount to earn a 15.1. Ross came back after her bar routine with a beautiful beam routine with one major wobble on her side aerial for a 14.55. Douglas continued onto floor where she got the crowd clapping along with her upbeat music and hit all her leaps, turns and tumbling for a 15.0. Nichols continued on her fantastic day with a solid, beautiful beam routine scoring a 14.45.

Sabrina Vega showed off on floor in her first meet back since 2011, competing a more simple routine, but doing it very well until the last pass when she put her hands down.

The third rotation ended with Biles in first with a 47.3, Douglas with a 45.3 and Nichols just behind with a 45.2.

Rotation Four

Entering the last rotation, Raisman was five tenths behind Nichols and six behind Douglas as they moved to her best event. However, with Douglas on vault, it seemed unlikely she would be able to catch her. Madison Kocian performed a beautifully flowing bar routine, scoring the highest bars score of the night, a 15.6. Biles finished on bars, where she has greatly improved and ends with a stick to put an exclamation point on her very successful competition. She earned a 15.1 to cap off her night. Raisman took the floor to a roaring crowd, but fell on her newly upgraded second pass. She went on to wow with everything else, but her was not enough to make the podium. Nichols came out strong on floor, scoring a 14.8. Key finished her night with a great bar set, scoring a 15.3 and just missing the bronze.

The arena was ablaze with sparkling leotards as the juniors took the stage at the Secret US Classics. After an exciting competition, Lauren Hernandez of MG Elite topped the podium with a 58.45. Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams won the silver with a 57.70, while reigning national junior champion Jazzy Foberg of MG Elite followed behind her for the bronze with a 57.40. Hernandez led the entire meet, while Smith built up her scores with consistency and topped it off with a fantastic floor routine to take the silver. Foberg was also strong throughout the meet, however stumbles on her floor landings kept her just out of reach of the silver.

Rotation One

Jordan Chiles went for her new amanar vault, the only junior attempting this difficult skill, but touched her hand down to prevent herself from falling backward. She ended the rotation in third with a 14.6. Ragan Smith also started on vault, scoring a 14.7 with a clean double twisting yurchenko. Grace Quinn tied her for second in the first rotation with a beautiful double twisting yurchenko of her own.

Hernandez started on bars as did reigning national champion Foberg. Foberg was up first, and floated through her 6.0 bar routine for a 14.1. But Hernandez stole the show with her high flying releases and stuck landing for a 15.0, leading after the first rotation.

Rotation Two

Laurie Hernandez on beam during podium training at the Secret US Classics. Photo by Christy Linder Sharp

Jordan Chiles did a beautiful bar routine, but did not match Hernandez’s difficulty on bars and ended up with a 14.1. Foberg got through beam with just a few small wobbles, hitting her skills nicely for a huge 14.65, the highest score on beam to this point. Hernandez got up next, performing with her usual style and attack but had a large step back on her landing, leaving her with a 14.2. The rotation ended with Hernandez in the lead with a 29.2, Foberg in second 28.75 followed closely by Chiles with a 28.7.

Rotation Three

Ragan Smith in podium training. Photo by Christy Linder Sharp.

Chiles performed a beautiful beam routine, but fell on her back tuck. She finished the routine strong, but a 13.6 was low enough to just knock her off the podium at the end of the rotation. Foberg competed some impressive tumbling in her floor routine, opening with a full twisting double layout and a tuck double double for her second pass. She has some rough landings, and earned a 13.85, which was not quite enough to keep her in the top three. Christine Desiderio steped into the top three with the highest floor score of the meet at this point, earning a 14.85. Smith competed three solid routines in a row, and her consistency plus her incredible beam routine including a standing piked full earned her a 14.1 on beam moved her up in the standings. Hernandez wowed the crowd with her incredible floor performance, and was nearly flawless until her last pass when she stumbled back a bit and went out of bounds. However, a 14.35 kept her well in the lead. At the end of rotation three, Hernandez led with a 43.55. Ragan Smith moved into second with a 42.70. Desiderio was followed with a 42.65. Foberg and Chiles fell to fourth and fifth.

Rotation Four

Foberg and Hernandez side by side through it all. Photo by Christy Linder Sharp.

Only four tenths separated second through fifth places heading into the last rotation, and the competition was tight. Foberg and Hernandez were on vault, usually highest scoring event. Smith and Chiles were on floor and Desiderio was on bars. Foberg led off with a high double twisting yurchenko for a 14.8. Hernandez did a clean double twisting yurchenko with a small hop, earning a a 14.9,the highest vault score in the meet and enough to keep her solidly in the lead. Ragan Smith took the floor with her charming and charismatic routine, opening with a sky high double layout, a one and a half stepout through to a triple twist, a double arabian and a stuck double pike. She scored the highest floor score of the meet, a whopping 15.0, which kept her in second place. Desiderio fell on bars, knocking her off the podium. Chiles finished up the meet on floor where she fell on her opening pass. She finished up well, but three falls in one meet kept her from the podium.

Full Results at SecretClassic.com. Top scores in the all-around and each event are below.

In many ways, the Secret US Classics can be one of the most exciting meets of the year. It is the time when we see impressive upgrades, gymnast debuts and begin to really get an idea of the overall picture for the US women’s team. It is also a meet where anything can happen, as the girls routines are not yet polished and perfected. This year boasts an extra level of excitement with the return of many beloved gymnasts, upgrades in unexpected places and the place in the Olympic cycle where gymnastics fans can begin to see glimpses of next year’s Olympic team.

“The energy in the arena was intense,” said gymnastics photographer Christy Linder. Gone were the smiles and casual jokes, instead the girls had stoic, focused expressions. And while it is still early in the lead up to the selection of the world and ultimately the Olympic team, the intensity of the competition is beginning to show. With just over a year to go, everyone has Rio on their mind.

“Classics is always really important. It is the meet right before championships, so it allows you to see where you are and it allows you to try out your new skills… and to see if it is still worth it to push for the new skills, because after this meet you can’t really try anything new at championships or world championships,” said Aly Raisman in an interview with USA Gymnastics after podium training. Raisman is trying out a new skill on floor, adding a front tuck after her incredibly difficult pike double arabian in her second tumbling pass. “That’s still something relatively new, adding it into the floor routine, so hopefully tomorrow it will go well.”

And Raisman is not alone. In 2012 the USA seemed like an amanar factory. However, the number of gymnasts performing this high scoring vault consistently has diminished to just one – Simone Biles. Returning gymnasts Gabby Douglas, Raisman and Brenna Dowell all competed the amanar previously. Bailie Key is also training this vault. But the only person to actually show it in podium training today was Maggie Nichols. Welcome to the amanar club Maggie!

Speaking of Simone Biles, though she already has the most difficulty in the world by far, she is always pushing herself for more. Biles showed off two new skills on beam. “I added a Barani on beam [front tuck with a half twist] and a front pike… and then I got a new floor routine, so I am excited about that… and then I was supposed to compete a Cheng on vault, but that’s not going to happen, so hopefully for P&G’s,” said Biles in her post podium training interview. Biles also added a full twisting double layout on floor at Jesolo earlier this year and will be competing that along with a brand new floor routine.

Kyla Ross has spent this year focusing on bar upgrades. “I’ve been working hard to be able to compete a more difficult routine,” said Ross. She debuted a Bhardwaj (full twisting pak, a transition flip from the high to low bar) during podium training and also a new double front dismount. She has also changed some of her connections on beam. However, bars and beam are all we will see tomorrow as she won’t be competing all-around. “Unfortunately I am not going to do the all around this weekend because I hurt my heel a little bit, but I am hoping to go back after this competition and train hard for P&G’s.”

Bailie Key will not let her US senior debut come and go without upgrades of her own. “Training has been going really well. I am excited to compete here as a senior at the Secret Classic, and I thought training here, podium training, went really good too. I am most excited for floor because that is my big upgrade. I am putting a double layout in and moving my other passes back,” said Key. Along with her upgrade, Key also brings a brand new floor routine of her own.

Gabby Douglas is excited to be competing again, but will wait to unveil her new upgrades until P&G National Championships. “I’ve been working on a little bit of upgrades, which you guys will see at P&G’s, and being consistent and patient,” said Douglas after podium training. She knows that to make another Olympic team, she is going to have to give it her all. “We have so many good girls, all fighting for that spot and the competition is more dynamic… all the gymnasts, especially me, are going to have to pull out the best of the best. Especially with Simone. We’re gonna all have to bring out our best skills.” Douglas gave us a preview, showing off her new floor routine.

In addition to the upgrade frenzy were a number of familiar faces making their way back into the elite scene. Brenna Dowell, Polina Shchennikova and Sabrina Vega are all returning to elite gymnastics. Dowell just took a short hiatus to try her hand at college gymnastics. After a successful freshman year, she showed up to podium training looking better than ever on bars. Shchennikova showed off her gorgeous lines and flexibility on beam and bars, reminding everyone why she has been one that always catches your eye. Vega has been out since the 2012 Olympic Trials and is looking to begin her journey back into competition this weekend.

2014 World Champions MyKayla Skinner, Alyssa Baumann, Ashton Locklear and Madison Kocian are all out to prove that they are still in the running this year, even with the return of so many other gymnasts. Kocian and Locklear are both coming off of injuries as well, and will be looking to show that they are fit and ready to go. Standout junior Nia Dennis will be making her senior debut, looking to make a place for herself as well.

All in all, the gymnasts everyone expected to look great, do. And the gymnasts we have been wondering about- look great as well. This year, more than any before, seems to be an embarrassment of riches. Let the fun begin.

Tomorrow starts the final run up to the national championships with the Secret US Classics. Nine World and Olympic champions will take the stage as they fine tune their performances in preparation for the national championships and make the case for why they should be on the 2015 World Championship team. Headlining the competition is two-time World all-around champion Simone Biles of World Champions Centre and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross of Gym-Max. 2012 Olympic gold medalists Gabrielle Douglas of Buckeye Gymnastics and Aly Raisman of Brestyan’s American Gymnastics will be making their first appearance in competition on US soil since 2012.

This year’s field boasts gold medal gymnasts spanning from World Championship team in 2011 through the 2012 Olympics to the 2014 World Championships. The USA has won gold in all of those years, and those gold medalists are making their bid to prove why they should each be on the national and world teams. More than 100 of the country’s top female gymnasts will be competing in the junior and senior divisions. The action will start with podium training on July 24, which will stream live at 9:00 a.m. ET (juniors) and 11:00 a.m. ET (seniors) and then will continue with competition on the 25th.

The juniors will take the stage at 1 p.m. on July 25 at the Sears Centre in Chicago. The seniors start at 6:30 p.m. Universal Sports television will broadcast live from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET. The competition will be simultaneously webcast on UniversalSports.com and on the official Secret Classic website. If you miss it live, the broadcast will be available for on-demand streaming.

After three subdivisions of competition have been completed, the US women easily claim the team title for the fourth straight time at the Pan American Games. Scoring a 173.8, USA’s talented team won the gold by over seven points. Canada and Brazil both put in valiant efforts, with Canada edging out Brazil for the silver with a 166.5 to Brazil’s 165.4 for the bronze. The US men also won gold, making it the first time in 20 years that the US men and women have claimed the team title in the same year.

Madison Desch of GAGE, Rachel Gowey of Chow’s Gymnastics, Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati Gymnastics, Emily Schild of Everest Gymnastics and Megan Skaggs of Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta made up the gold medal winning team. Each gymnast performed admirably, leading to the top score on all four events. Read here for a full recap.

The first of the individual events begins tomorrow with the men’s and women’s all-around finals. Hundley and Desch qualified in the top two spots for the women’s all-around final. Hundley, scoring a total of 57.65 put up solid routines on every event, with all four scores counting toward the team victory. She posted the highest score of the entire competition on vault, and the second highest event scores on beam and floor. Desch was brilliant on floor, posting the highest floor score of the meet, and the third highest on both bars and vault. However, she slipped off the beam while performing a high difficulty move, losing her lead and ending the meet with a 57.3. Ana Gomez Porras of Guatemala qualified in third just behind Desch with a 57.2 Separated by just 4.5 tenths, the competition for the all-around title will be fierce.

The U.S. women will compete in three individual event finals held July 14-15. None of the US women vied for the Vault final. The vault and uneven bars finals will be on July 14, while the balance beam and floor exercise finals will be held on July 15.

VAULT

Cuba’s Marcia Videaux Jimenez qualified in the top spot with a 14.95 average score, competing two vaults with over a 6.0 start value. Paula Mejias of Puerto Rico was close behind with a 14.75 average, competing slightly less difficult vaults but scoring higher in execution. Yamilet Pena Abreu of the Dominican Republic rounded out the top three with a 14.5 average. She was able to put her feet down before sitting down on her insanely difficult Produnova (handspring double front) vault, making it into the vault final.

Uneven Bars

Gowey led the bars qualifications with a beautifully executed 14.75 routine. She did not make one of her planned connections, giving her opportunity to score even higher in event finals. Hudley qualified behind her with a 14.5. Desch qualified in third, but did not advance to the finals due to the two per country rule. Jessica Lopez Arocha of Venezuela rounded out the top three with a 14.3.

Balance Beam

Flavia LOPES SARAIVA of Brazil edged out Gowey for the top spot on beam with a 14.55 to Gowey’s 14.5. Lopes had a one tenth edge in difficulty, while Gowey scored just a half tenth higher in execution. Ana Gomez Porras of Guatemala qualified in third with a 14.35. With just a two tenth spread, this may be a tight competition! Skaggs qualified in fifth with a 14.05 as the second US qualifier.

Floor Exercise

Desch qualified into the floor finals with the top score of 14.65. She performed a beautiful executed routine that led the field by five tenths in difficulty as well. Hundley qualified in second into her second event final, earning a 14.3. LOPES SARAIVA rounded out the top three with a 14.2. Ellie Black of Canada also scored a 14.2, and with only a four and a half tenth spread from second to eighth, this may be another close final!

Check out the full schedule and results on the official Pan American Games site, toronto2015.org. Full replays of events are being uploaded to the Pan American Games youtube channel. Competition will resume tomorrow with the men’s all-around finals at 12:45 pm EST. The women will take the stage at 6:50 pm EST. Competition for both events can be seen live on ESPN3.

All scores are taken from the official Pan American Games site, toronto2015.org.

Team USA for the Pan American Games at podium training. Photo by Grace Chaui via USA Gymnastics.

The first round of competition for the 2015 American Games started today in Toronto. The women began their Pan Am journey with the team finals and all-around and event finals qualifications in the first subdivision. They will have to wait through two more subdivisions for the results. Madison Desch of GAGE, Rachel Gowey of Chow’s Gymnastics, Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati Gymnastics, Emily Schild of Everest Gymnastics and Megan Skaggs of Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta make up the team.

The format for the team competition is four up, three count. The USA started on floor with Schild, Skaggs, Hundley and Desch. Schild led off with a strong effort, scoring a 13.75. Skaggs went up next, and performed an artistically beautiful routine but struggled on her landings, almost putting her hand down on her last pass. She scored a 13.4. Hundley opened up her first competition in 2015 with a brand new routine that earned a 14.3. Desch finished up with the strongest routine of the rotation scoring a 14.65. Team USA earned a 42.7 on their first event. Desch and Hundley took the top two spots from America on floor, giving them both the opportunity to qualify for event finals.

Skaggs, Schild, Desch and Hundley were all up again for Vault. As commentator Elfi Schlegel put it, team USA put on a vault clinic. All four girls performed solid double twisting yurchenkos, with scores that built along the line-up. Skaggs earned a 14.9, Desch a 14.95, Schild a 15.05 and Hundley led the team with a 15.1. A 45.1 event score put team USA at 87.8 at the half-way point.

The line-up on Uneven Bars was Skaggs, Hundley, Desch and Gowey. Skaggs started off the event with a solid bar routine earning a 13.75. Hundley came up next with a solid routine chocked full of release moves and a tiny hop on landing for a 14.5. Desch performed a beautiful bar routine. Her release moves floated through the air with a beautiful swing in between for a 14.45. Gowey anchored the team with a very strong routine for her first outing in 2015 scoring a 14.75. Gowey and Hundley were the top two USA scores and team USA finished the event with a 43.7.

The USA ended on balance beam, with Hundley, Skaggs, Desch and Gowey competing. Hundley led off with a solid routine with just a few wobbles for a 13.750. Skaggs went up next with a nice flowing routine but had a deep bend on her dismount for a 14.05. Desch brought out a beautiful routine and but fell on a difficult hand-spring step out, hand-spring two feet to layout full, scoring a 13.25. Gowey ended the competition with a true Chow style routine- slow and steady, nary a wobble, with beautiful fluidity to score a 14.5. USA earned a 42.3 on beam, and Gowey and Skaggs were the top scoring Americans.

Team USA leads after subdivision one with a 173.8. Hundley and Desch are currently one-two in the all-around with a 57.65 and a 57.3 respectively, which is impressive for Desch with a fall. Hundley and Gowey are both in the running for two event finals, with Desch and Skaggs each in the hunt for one. Final results will be determined after two more subdivisions, including Canada and Brazil.

Amelia Hundley qualifies in first into the all-around from team USA. Photo by Grace Chiu via USA Gymnastics.

USA Gymnastics announced the eight gymnasts named to the 2015 Pan American Games training squad. Nia Dennis of Buckeye Gymnastics,Madison Deschof GAGE, Rachel Gowey of Chow’s Gymnastics, Felicia Hano of Gym-Max, Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati, Lauren Navarro of Gliders, Emily Schild of Everest and Megan Skaggs of Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta. Navarro was also added to the womens National Team.

Five gymnasts will represent the USA in the women’s artistic gymnastics competition at the games in Toronto, July 11-15. The members of the training squad will spend the rest of the month at their home gyms putting the final touches on their competition routines. They will return on June 29 for the final selection camp to determine the five-member team.

Each and every international competition is an opportunity for the gymnasts to both gain experience and prove themselves to Marta Karolyi and the US women’s team selection committee. The forming of this team is a careful balance of sending gymnasts who will best represent the US, while giving opportunities for other gymnasts to gain experience in an international competition and prove that they can contribute on a world stage. Some of the USA’s top veteran gymnasts are not represented on this team for this reason.

The Pan American Games run from July 10-26. The artistic gymnastics competitions will include an all-around, team and individual apparatus competitions. The US is sending gymnasts to compete in all forms of gymnastics, including men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, trampoline, and rhythmic gymnastics. Schedules of competition and more information can be found on http://www.toronto2015.org.

This month’s National Team Training Camp include’s the initial selection for the team who will represent the USA at the Pan American Games (to be held in Toronto from July 10-26). The five day camp ran this week at the Karolyi Ranch, and will culminate in the announcement of the eight-woman training squad for the games today at 1pm EST. The members of that squad will return at the end of the month, for the final selection camp to determine the five-member team.

Training session at the June National Team Camp. Photo via USA Gymnastics.

The gymnasts attempting to be be named to the Pan Am training squad spent the week finalizing the construction of their routines, and verifying these almost full routines with the National Team coaches. They also worked on continuing to refine their execution and artistry and testing their physical abilities. They will spend the rest of the month training at their home gyms to come back with full competition ready routines for the selection camp.

The seniors in attendance who are not vying for the squad, as well as all of the juniors are at a different phase in their training. They only verified half routines, wanting to peak at full routine competition readiness closer to the National Championships. They also worked on execution and artistry, as well as physical abilities testing.

Aly Raisman and Simone Biles at camp. Photo via Aly Raisman Twitter

The camp is headlined by five members of the gold medal winning 2014 U.S. Women’s World Team: Alyssa Baumann of WOGA; Simone Biles of World Champions Centre; Madison Desch of Great American Gymnastics Express; Kyla Ross of Gym-Max; and MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights. Ashton Locklear of Everest and Madison Kocian of WOGA are still recovering from injury and was not in attendance. 2012 Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman of Brestyan’s American Gymnastics is also at the camp, however Gabby Douglas had a slight foot injury and did not attend, but is expected to return at the end of the monthaccording to USA Gymnastics Facebook Page. Those not in attendance will have the opportunity to petition on to the training squad.